A growing body of research has linked the reading of women's beauty and fashion magazines with the presence of eating-disordered thinking. Most of this research has focused on the relationship between the frequency with which women read and their potential anorexic risk. In the present study, the authors explore the connection between the motivations for reading and the presence of anorexic cognitions. Specifically, this study of 536 college-age women sought to determine which reading motivations might be the most p redictive of anorexic risk and whether those motivations would be differentially related to reading frequency and to scores on the Mizes Anorectic Cognitions Scale (MACS). To test the simultaneous contribution of the possible reading motivations on the two outcomes of interest, a structural equation model using AMOS 4.0 was generated. The findings from the model indicate that reading frequency and anorexic risk are largely predicted by divergent motivational factors. The reading frequency of beauty and fashion magazines was most strongly predicted by a woman's desire for selfimprovement. Anorexic risk, as measured by MACS scores, was best predicted MEDIAPSYCHOLOGY, 4,. by the motivation to learn about dieting and weight loss and by the desire to increase one's popularity among family and friends. The ability of reading frequency to predict anorexic risk diminished significantly in the presence of the motivation factors.Much has been written about the relationship between mass media use and eating-disordered cognitions and behaviors These studies have attempted to establish a link between the frequency or recentness of exposure to images and messages that promote a "thin ideal" and the increased presence of body image disturbance and related eating-disordered thoughts and attitudes in young women. Empirically demonstrating this connection, however, has been a difficult process. As Levine, Piran, and Stoddard (1999) explained, the negative impact of mass media on the hearts, minds and bodies of young girls and women is taken as gospel by most people committed to the prevention of eating disorders. This assumption implies that greater levels of exposure to (and immersion in the symbolic world of) mass media will lead to greater "cultivation" of the thinness schema and perhaps disordered eating. However, there are surprisingly few well-conducted studies to support or challenge this simple proposition, and overall the evidence is mixed. (p. 5)
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.